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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Is it worth getting air conditioning units for bedrooms?

126 replies

CoffeeLover87 · 19/06/2025 12:34

Hi all,
Is anyone else finding the summers just get hotter every year? I am not a big fan of heat anything above 28 degrees it’s become unbearable for me. We’re seriously thinking about installing air conditioning units in our bedrooms – the kind that do both hot and cold, so they’re useful year-round. Has anyone gone down this route? Are they worth the cost to install and run?

Thanks in Advance ! 😊


If you've landed here looking for bedroom air con recommendations, take a look at our guide to the best air conditioners for bedrooms, all handpicked by Mumsnet editors. We hope it's helpful!

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OP posts:
Itsmehiya · 20/06/2025 19:19

Yes- love ours (Mitsubishi units on the walls that we had installed when we built our house). Have a unit in one of the reception rooms downstairs and if I open the doors it cools the whole of my downstairs. We also have them in our bedrooms, so the hot weather never bothers us at night. Downside is that you get used to them and your electricity bill will be larger. It is so worth it for us, especially as my DD has some medical conditions that are somewhat soothed by a cool room and decent rest.

Buzyizzy217 · 20/06/2025 19:20

Absolutely not! Unless you have solar panels of course. We are already in so much trouble, the last thing we need is more energy being used. 😞

Itsmehiya · 20/06/2025 19:21

My parents also have Mitsubishi wall units in one bedroom and one of their reception rooms in their bungalow. Works very well.

SendBooksAndTea · 20/06/2025 19:23

TizerorFizz · 20/06/2025 19:19

You think I don’t know what air con is like? Really? How patronising. I do, however I don’t want ugly units in my rooms. It does dry out the air and is not much use for the rest of the year.

Part of our house is 15 years old. We have the luxury of getting air moving in rooms we are using and fairly large opening doors. 6 if I include the front door. We have high levels of insulation because we generate our electricity as much as we can and store it in batteries. So keeping the heat in the house in winter is a priority. However walls breathe and getting airflow through space cools it dorm we find. However we have no south facing windows. This helps too.

@SendBooksAndTea Was the top sort in effect loft space? We have a holiday townhouse and the top floor is actually living space. We have windows and fans but it’s more difficult to cool down than home.,

No we had a loft above and would sometimes have to open the hatch to help the hot air go up. It was just a generally hot house. I've several friends with similar issues in new builds.

WinchSparkle80 · 20/06/2025 19:23

Absolutely go for it! ours also heat so spend less on heating in Winter.

WinchSparkle80 · 20/06/2025 19:25

We also have solar panels and so negligible cost

TizerorFizz · 20/06/2025 19:25

@Buzyizzy217 That’s also my view and we have 24 panels and batteries.

Buzyizzy217 · 20/06/2025 19:36

TizerorFizz · 20/06/2025 19:25

@Buzyizzy217 That’s also my view and we have 24 panels and batteries.

☺️

ThrowAway987654321 · 20/06/2025 19:40

@ElsaSnowwould you mind pm-img me the company you used?

reversegear · 20/06/2025 19:52

We are renovating and adding a modern extension to our thatch and 100% adding aircon to the budget as the rooms we are adding are in full sun from about 2pm onwards. This side of the house is roasting.

GreySkyAtNight · 20/06/2025 19:54

I've got a portable air con and it's on every summer now. I use it in the office but it's now reached a point where I would like one for the main room and one for the bedroom.

I do live in a south facing building which gets very hot. Downside is that it's noisy so I would say get fitted it you can.

OhHellolittleone · 20/06/2025 20:09

ChandrilanDiscoDroid · 19/06/2025 14:12

That really depends. It's 34C in my home office right now. Opening the window has no effect, not least because the temperature outside is the same. Blackout blinds only reduce the rate of heating very slightly.

Honestly I’ve been surprised! We have a sweat box of an attic- we live in a London terrace for context. But we got blackouts a few months ago on the Juliet balcony windows and it’s made a massive difference. Not
enough for me to cancel the proper air con though. It’s now installed and the attic
positively icy. It’s a dream. Sooo many jealous neighbours.

Morningmorning · 20/06/2025 20:17

We have air con in our office building which is hot and cold. Most of the building is now covered and it is bliss. You can see people coming in and smiling for the welcoming coolness. We have installed it gradually as we altered the building to our needs and it is the best money we spent.

I think we will install it in our own bedroom soon as it is south facing with a poorly insulated roof space (ancient cottage with no loft access).

babasaclover · 20/06/2025 22:48

U53rn8m3ch8ng3 · 20/06/2025 19:05

Your presumption that I don't know anything is patronising. You clearly absolutely can't see anyone's view point about why aircon is so good and that fans really just aren't the same. Go find a friend with aircon and you'll see.

It’s night and day. Comparing air conditioning to fans is like comparing cars to bicycles. One is far far superior but you can’t tell people 😂 they just don’t believe you

828Pax · 20/06/2025 22:50

Honestly the best money we have ever spent!

Autumn1990 · 20/06/2025 23:08

I think what many people are referring to here are air to air heat pumps that can do either heating or cooling. They are very efficient and ideal in smaller properties as a heat source. Unfortunately the grant funding in the UK is only for air to water heat pumps which require a well designed system to be efficient. I don’t think the installation of an air to air system can be docked up.

RareMaker · 21/06/2025 13:45

Just got a portable one. Our bedroom was hitting 35 and no windows at night were making any difference! Now my bedroom is 23. It's noisy and bulky but who cares. I like the white noise tbh and blocks out the neighbours in their garden.

The only neighbour that's judged me is the so called eco warrior that drives a land-rover around the village, her kids have big quad bikes and she goes on several planes a year. Honestly just done with people's judging. The heat in rooms at 35 is unbearable

ElsaSnow · 21/06/2025 16:07

@ThrowAway987654321 we used to”All Kent Cooling” would definitely recommend.

ProfessorLayton1 · 21/06/2025 16:41

We have Meaco fan - have it on a high speed on a hot day like this . Good compromise. Air con is not very environmentally friendly at all.

caffelattetogo · 23/06/2025 16:25

Yes, our meaco dehumidifier is great for cooling

TizerorFizz · 24/06/2025 18:02

@ProfessorLayton1 I agree. Seems those of us with fans have never been in an air conditioned building! We are all living in the equivalent of a desert with extreme heat and haven’t ever come out into an air con world. The fact some people reject air conditioning means they don’t know what it is, apparently! Somewhat bizarre view.

BeKindOpalBear · 26/06/2025 16:00

For those wondering about the cost of an air con unit, we have just had a quote for two air con units, one in the lounge and one in the main bedroom - quote was between £2,800 and £3,250 for both rooms.

The price difference, in the main being the most expensive had a energy efficiency rating of A+++ the other 2 are A++

Allywill · 26/06/2025 16:05

we have one in living room and one in our bedroom - recently had the bedroom one on all night (roughly 10pm to 8am) on eco setting (set the temp - it goes full blast getting room down to that temp then just maintains) cost around 50p from the smart meter - no solar power - just variable tarrif.

Allywill · 26/06/2025 16:08

and because they also do heating when our central heating broke down on new year’s day we could also heat the house.

Rookieblue889 · 26/06/2025 16:13

Yep I bought a small portable air con in 2016 for our living room and it's made a world of a difference. We have since upgraded as we moved house. You can't comfortably live in a flat in London without one nowadays.